The ball had been pushed through by Lee Johnson with his first touch of the season to set up a celebration out of a tragedy.
Johnson had come on for Andrius Velicka who was stretchered off with a leg injury eight minutes into his City debut. Signed earlier in the day on a season-long loan from Glasgow Rangers, Velicka had been sent on to beef up an attack which had been failing to deliver in the final third.
Narrow though the defeat was, it was a bad blow for Jim Magilton's managerial career.
After drawing their first two games he made three changes, the most significant seeing the introduction of £3.5 million Argentinian Alejandro Faurlin. For a period, the game swept around the midfielder and before settling down he collected a yellow card for a centre circle challenge.
Their organisation at the back saw QPR pick off a flurry of crosses as City carried the game to them.
A free-kick by the ever busy Paul Hartley had Maynard closing in with a shot which Cerny did well to smother after seeing the ball late. Akos Buzsaky then headed off the line from City's recruit Lewin Nyatanga before featuring in a rare visitors' attack, firing just over the bar as defenders backed off.
Twice they failed to find a way past the wall with free kicks but the miss of the match came after Wayne Routledge had cut inside City's left back Jamie McAllister. He looked to have set up a routine goal when the ball dropped eight yards outside the far post but Adel Taarabt's volley found the bar.